Over the past several months, I have had this type of question asked more than a couple of times.

"We usually have OK results, but sometimes they walk out when we get into "The God Stuff". If you have any suggestions or materials that would aid us in bringing this life saving message to the people who are detoxing, heavily medicated, and sometimes very belligerent, It would be greatly appreciated."

For those have only recently been blessed with our Solution, it is sometimes difficult to remember that the majority of those suffering from alcoholism and various addictions are atheists or agnostics. We were studying that part of "Bill's Story" last night where Ebby told Bill of his release from the bottle (pgs 10, 11 & 12). Some of our kids started getting heavy on God. We had a number of newcomers in that meeting and I noticed several getting a little restless as the talk about God continued. I tried to quiet them down with some realism by getting a little ahead of where we were in the Big Book to remind them that while Ebby gave Bill the HOPE we all need at the beginning of "coming to believe", that was all it did and that hope dissolved as Bill continued to drink. The fact that Ebby was sober and Bill couldn't stay sober was driving Bill further into the bottle. But two weeks later, as Bill recognized he was going into DTs and remembered Dr. Silkworth told him he would probably die of a heart attack during a bout with DTs, he returned to the hospital for medical attention. After beginning to regain some awareness, and with the desperation of a drowning man, he called Ebby and asked him to come visit him one more time. Ebby did and now Bill was ripe and ready. He was now willing to do anything to survive. And so it is with all of us who are real, chronic, hopeless alcoholics.

Over my sober years, I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to carry the message of the Big Book into several dozen wind-up places. I emphasize the problem of alcoholism as being powerless over the body due to our allergic reaction to alcohol, the craving, but far more important is the powerlessness we have over our mind where alcohol is concerned. While we have made a decision to never take another drink and mean it, our life is un - manage - able where alcohol is concerned. The alcoholic mind makes it impossible to manage that decision to not take the first drink. Why? A power, greater than ourselves, alcohol, has taken control of our mind. Or as Dr. Silkworth wrote: "Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks-drinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery." Third Edition - pg xxvi or Fourth Edition - xxviii

So, if we want to survive alcoholism, we must find a Power greater than ourselves and greater than alcohol. That is precisely what our Twelve Step Program promises: "Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem." pg 45

But remember, first things first! After Bill left Town's Hospital on December 18, 1934, he devoted a part of every day looking for alcoholics he might be able to help. He told of the wonders God had done for him. He ran off every one of them. "We have indulged in spiritual intoxication." pg 128. But "We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done. These are the realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness." pg 130. He then went to Dr. Silkworth to see if the good Dr could help him figure out what he was doing wrong and Silky told him that he was getting the cart before the horse. He told Bill to bear down on the scientific hopelessness of alcoholism. Present the truth about the exact nature of the disease and then maybe the prospect would become curious as to what Bill had done to live sober. The first time he was given that opportunity was when he met Dr. Bob. Dr. Bob had agreed to 15 minutes with this rummy from New York, but no more than that. As they met at the screen door of the Gatehouse of the Seiberling Estate, Bill said, "Dr. Smith, I have been looking forward to meeting you." Dr. Bob said, "Yes Mr. Wilson, I have been looking forward to meeting you as well but we must be very brief. I have but a few minutes." Bill looked at that sweating face with the bloodshot eyes and the vibrating body and said. "Yes Doctor, I understand. You look like you need a drink."Bill did not mention God to Dr. Bob as he learned from Henrietta that Dr. Bob knew more about God than he did. He did do what Dr. Silkworth prescribed though and told the sweating, vibrating Doctor about alcoholism, as Dr. Silkworth had presented his idea. Get the picture; a broken down stock peddler from New York is telling a prominent asshole surgeon what is wrong with him and the Doctor says, "I'll be damned. So that is it? It isn't a matter of finding sufficient willpower. I'm screwed and I am willing to do anything you ask of me to recover as you have."

As one of the ladies I Sponsor said some years ago, "Cliff, I think I finally understand. If they truly understand how desperate alcoholism is and how hopeless they are, you can't beat them away with a baseball bat. But if they don't, you can't give it to them with an enema." Truer words were never spoken.

"We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed." pg 30,

I didn't intend to get so long-winded but this is a topic we need to emphasize and re-emphasize. If we are following the directions we are given in Chapter Seven, we don't talk about the Power until the prospect surrenders to their powerlessness. Read Fred's story, as it is a perfect example of the perfect 12 Step Call. They told him about alcoholism and some of their experiences drinking. They did not mention the Solution. Fred said he wasn't that bad so they left him with one thought, "Maybe you are right. Maybe you really don't have a drinking problem but if you have an ALCOHOLIC MIND, you will drink again." A year later, he remembered that one statement and called them for help. They then again drove the stake deep so far as the problem was concerned and then they let him in on the Secret. They did exactly what Bill had done with Dr. Bob, but then one of those two alkys was Bill Wilson. They simply planted the seed and waited for it to sprout and sprout it did!

Step One clearly states our Problem and the simple test is on page 44. "If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic." We must surrender to that reality before we can proceed.

Step Two is the hope and Promise that, if we will follow the clear-cut directions from page 64 thru page 83, we will learn if that Power does exist for us. If we can surrender to this hope, "Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon." pg 59.

We then let the prospect know they are now going to take the action the First One Hundred took by seeking that Power, greater than ourselves, which will solve all our problems. In our Program of Recovery, we call that Power "God", as each of us can understand Him. Maybe it has happened, but I have yet to see a real alcoholic come to us to become holy. The only requirement for membership in our Fellowship is a desire to stop drinking. If we do it right, we may get a little taste of holiness but only to the extent we do what Ebby told Bill he must do, and that Bill passed on to us. "My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me. Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that." pgs 14 & 15.

I am damn proud of you, as you are doing what we all should be doing. The Big Book says we are to search out, go to, and approach the suffering alcoholic with our story of understanding and hope. Keep on doing precisely that. Most likely, the ones you are trying to help will fail, but you won't. God bless you, yours and your continued efforts to help that alcoholic who suffers from alcoholism not the ones who suffer from ignorance, arrogance or stupidity.

If you have guts enough to ask another question, I will attempt to be brief but I can't promise. It is a matter of life or death and that seems to be pretty important to some of us. Thank God we have been given the perfect Program. We don't need nor should we try to improve on it.

The Program of Alcoholics Anonymous is not an intellectual challenge. It is a spiritual journey and the Big Book is our Travel Guide.

In God's love and service,
Cliff B.
214-350-1190
FAX - 214-350-7571
CBBB164@aol.com
www.ppgaadallas.org